The Sleepwalker Murder with Murder: True Crime Stories
March 16, 2026·4 min
Payne Lindsey introduces the episode as a crossover with Carter Roy's Murder True Crime Stories, a Crime House original. The case centers on Scott Falater, who in 1997 allegedly killed his wife Darmelia with 44 stab wounds in the backyard of their home. Scott maintained he was asleep during the entire incident and had no recollection of committing the act. A neighbor witnessed the attack from across the street, providing eyewitness testimony against the sleepwalking defense. Payne frames the case as sitting at the intersection of science, psychology, and legal accountability. The preview segment from Crime House opens with stark crime scene imagery — a blood-filled swimming pool and a man who woke up not knowing he had become a killer. The narration draws a relatable analogy between ordinary memory gaps and Scott's claimed total blackout, before noting the horrifying scale of difference. Carter Roy introduces himself and the show format, crediting Payne Lindsey's work on Up and Vanished for producing real investigative results in cold cases. The episode structure has Payne introducing the case, Carter providing the full narrative, and an extended conversation between the two hosts at the end. Payne describes the Falater case as one that personally unsettles him due to its strangeness. The central question posed is whether someone can be criminally responsible for an act committed during a sleepwalking episode. The episode also raises the question of whether the jury reached the correct verdict. Scott and Darmelia had been married for 20 years at the time of the killing. The preview ends with a call to action for listeners to find the full episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or other platforms. This release functions as a promotional crossover rather than a standalone full-length episode.
